Cross-wind position control



July 29, 1952 Filed April 16, 1949 G. A. SPENCER CROSS-WIND POSITION CONTROL 2 SHEETS-Si-EET 1 IN VEN TOR.

('nzovgehSyzncav A TTORNEKS July 29, 1952 G. A. SPENCER 2,605,054

CROSS-WIND POSITION CONTROL Filed April 16, 1949 ZSHEETS-SHEET 2 Inventor Anorneys Patented July 29, 1 952 TENT cr tics f Application April 1c, 1949, Serial No. 87,943 l g This-invention relates generally to machines for winding. filamentary material onto spools and, in particulanrelatesto a device for maintaining. the traverse guide spaced at all-times from the spool during winding.

In conventional winding machines the traverse guide is mounted. for swinging-motion and is constantly in contact, by the action of weights or other equivalent means, with. the outer layer of the material beingwound: This. results in chafing of the. threads in.more=or less degree, being very pronounced. in the;case of monofilaments such as the modern plastic threads, one example being Velon" a product of The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. In fact, with monofilaments of 8 gauge mil or less, it is scarcelypossibl'e to complete the winding of a single: spool. without a complete severing of the thread occurring at-some point of the winding. The situation is-also somewhat aggravated when the tubes or spindles of the machine are out of line. Also,- fllaments are more susceptible to chafing when wound directly'ifollowing the extruding process,-as in such case the filament isin asoft condition} It is to the relief of these conditions that th'e present invention-is directed, one object of the invention-being to avoid chafing of material during winding.

More particularly, it is-a-n object of the invention to provide a windin mechanism wherein the winding guide is constantly spaced from the outer layer of wound material, during winding, a further object being to provide such a mechanism which is easy of attainment by simple addition of parts to existing machines.

These and other objects are attained by the invention described in the accompanying specification and illustrated in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan, partly broken away of the external or spool-holding portion of a winding machine showing the cross-wind mechanism at the beginning of a winding operation,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the parts in the position they occupy at a later stage of winding.

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 a winding machine constructed along generally conventional lines and comprising a framework, indicated as a whole by the numeral I, which contains (not shown) the driving mechanism and the cam means for reciprocation of the traverse guide, such mechanism being well known in the art.

'1 Claim. (01. 242 -31).

A driven spindle 2 extends from the housing I and serves to hold the fibrous spool 3,--on which the filament 4 is to be wound.- The spindle is provided with a collar 5 to serve as a limit stop for the spool 3-, and-beyond the collar the leftward portion 6 of the spindle is polygonal in cross-section to effect rotation imparting engagement with the spool 3. Obviously other means of locking the spool to} thespi'ndlemay-be employed.

lhe thread t is l'ed 'over an elongated roller '4, supported on a frame 8'i n alignment with the axis of the spindle 2, 'and is led through fan-eyelet 9 carriedby' a trav'ersegui'de Ill reciprocable along frame; 8- by 'a-conne'ction with a-rod- H leading to the cam-means (not shown}; The

frame 8- is carried on a rrarni i2"which-i"spivoted atlS to the housing i'-', and the arm 12 has a lower extension M below the pivot 1' 3 constituting a counterweight tending to-hold arm l2 irra vertical position; 'Inconventional machines this counterweight, o'r equivalentmeans such as a spring, holds the traverse guide Ill against-the thread on the spool as the arm l2 swings out due to increasing diameter of the spoolj-wit-hre-- sultant' chafing. An- .arm l5 pivoted at-l6- on arm i2 has a foot- Ill engaging an arcuate channelecl member I8 The foot, which is held in place by'an arm [9 under'action'of asprin g- 20f, acts as a stop to prevent arm I 2 from swinging counter-clockwise until released by pressure applied on arm It. An adjustable limit stop for the arm [2 is provided in the form of a rider 2! on the arcuate member [8;

The spool 3 has a flared, conical inner end 22 to accommodate a shift axially of the spool of each succeeding layer of wound thread to produce the pattern shown in Fig. 2. This is conveniently accomplished by moving the spindle and spool outwardly of the machine a small amount for each layer of thread wound. The mechanism for thus shifting the spindle is actuated by the increasing diameter of the spool and comprises a roller 23 adapted to contact the outer layer of. material at all times during winding, and which in its progress away from the axis of the spindle operates a bell-crank lever, shown generally at 24, to move the spindle axially. The roller is supported in a frame 25 which in turn is carried by a vertical screw-pivot 26 on one end of an arm 21 of the bell-crank. The arm 21 is connected to the other arm 28 of the bell-crank by means of a horizontal screw-pivot 29 which enables raising the arm 21 to facilitate access to the spindle as when a spool is being mounted or removed. The bell-crank lever as a whole is mounted on a bracket 3!] on the machine by means or a vertical pivot 3i fixedly carried by a side extension 32 on the arm 28. Pivot 31 extends downwardly through the bracket 30 and is surrounded by a torsion spring 33 fixed to the bracket 30 at one end and at its other end to a washer 34 keyed to the pivot 3|. The spring 33 thus urges the roller 23 constantly toward the axis of spindle 2. A stop 35 abuts against the extension 3'2 to define the lower or working position of the roller 23, and a stop 36 depending from the inner end of arm 21 limits the extent of outward movement of the roller 23.

The outer end of arm 28 carries a lug 31 (Figs. 3, 4, and 5) pivoted at 38, which engages between a pair of collars 39 on the spindle 2 to transmit motion of the bell-crank thereto.

With the construction thus far described, all of which is conventional, as the diameter of the spool of thread increases, the roller 23 will move away from the axis of spindle 2 and lug 31 will move spindle 2 outwardly of the machine by a corresponding amount.

According to the invention, means are providedto utilize motion of arm 28 of the bellcrank leverto maintain traverse guide II! a fixed distance from the woundthread at all times during winding. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, an angular extension 40 is provided on arm 28 and into a bore therein is fixed a reduced extension 4| of a rod 42 with a roller sleeve 43 screw fastened to a lower reduced portion thereof. The roller 43 contacts a cam 44 fixed to the traverseguide-holding frame 8. The edge 45 of the cam is angularly directed with respect to the axis of spindle 2 (Fig. 2) and is concentric with pivot [3 (Fig. 3). The edge 45 is so designed that as the lug 31 moves leftward in response to outward progress of roller 23 the cam contacting roller 43 moves the cam so as to rock frame 8 about pivot 13 and keep the traverse guide In at a small distance from the outer thread layer. Preferably this distance will beof the order of one-sixty-fourth inch ,4 4") to one-sixteenth inch (1%") although shown exaggerated in Fig. 3.

It will be noted that in the action just described the contact roller 23 and its associated mechanism serve the double purpose of causing 4 axial movement of the spindle and of maintaining clearance at the traverse guide.

It will be seen that provision has been made for axial motion of the spool and continued clearance of the spool from the traverse guide through the medium of a contact roller and the assistance of cam action, the contact roller and traverse guide move away-from the spool.

While a certain embodiment has been shown, obviously changes in the precise shape, character and arrangement of the various parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a winding machine, a spindle arranged for axial motion and held against motion transverse to its axis, a roller adapted to continuously contact material being wound on a spool carried by said spindle and to recede from the axis of the spindle as the diameter of said spool of material increases, a traverse guide on an arm mounted on a pivot for recession from the spindle as the wound spool increases in diameter, a bell-crank lever connected to theconta'ct roller and arranged to move the spindle axially as the contact roller recedes from the spindle, cam means on the traverse guide having a cam edge concentric with the said pivot and angular to the spindle axis, and follower meanson said lever adapted to contact said cam edge to move the traverse guide away from the spindle as the latter is moved axially.

GEORGE A. SPENCER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Elvin June 30, 1942 

